Have a good one 
.
2 Likes
Good luck Jeff
2 Likes
What’s the forecast (weather)?
It’s going to be a bit breezy but temperatures will start around 14 and maybe get to 16 when I finish so decent enough. Not supposed to rain.
4 Likes
good luck @jeff. hope they are handing out Maltesers and Ovaltine at the aid stations?
2 Likes
Good luck @jeffb
1 Like
Good luck @jeffb!
1 Like
Good Luck.
1 Like
Thanks everyone 
Got round in a steady 95:30 but I clocked it a bit short and so did at least one other so add another 90 seconds maybe. But that was just with standard trainers instead of the Nike’s
Course was pretty undulating for a half and a bit of a breeze but a pleasant temperature.
Managed to settle into a pace although the legs were getting pretty heavy in the last 4k with all the walking but I’m fairly happy with that.
Leg felt a bit tight but not as broken as I was 3 weeks ago.
Sadly no malted treats on course, fruity 
24 Likes
First ever draft legal sprint Duathlon this afternoon, it doubled up as an ETU qualifier so the field was a bit fast……
Run improving but needs another jump in performance, positive was that I was joint fastest bike for 40+
Overall 3rd for 40+ and a 50AG spot for Ponteveadera in 2025
21 Likes
I’ve just seen tonight that Southport is supposed to be having duathlons this year for people avoiding the duck poo 
Not that far down the M6
4 Likes
I see a couple of my Scottish TO mates (Drew and James) were keeping you lot in check!
Oh yes, good to chat in between the heats
1 Like
Entered some races over the weekend.
Harlech Sprint Duathlon in mid-April is also the Welsh Champs.
Who doesn’t like mixing races with holidays?
Triathlon des Gorges de l’Ardèche is a series of Sprint, Standard(ish) & Middle(ish) races over three days with the option of doing all 3 for €178…so I’m in. Another bonus is that the campsite we’re booked into have a 30% discount for competitors 
.
Love the pontoon bridge they put up although admit the novelty may wear off after the first crossing.
14 Likes
I looked at that, looks like a good find, let us know what it was like 
1 Like
Heptonstall Fell Race yesterday, 15.4m, 3170 feet ascent.
Set up my plethora of excuses beforehand, not run more than 10 miles for about 2 years. Two day beer binge incl mate’s 50th Saturday ooooops. On a positive, I ran 2h28 in 2011, about 3h in 2017, and conditions were just awesome although plenty of bog monsters lurking, I’ve never seen the course so boggy and muddy.
3h 26m oh dear… 197th/234 finishers. I finished which was the ambition but goodness me did I feel shit for the last 5 or so miles, and the last 2 miles just wanted to lie down and die. So a consistent loss of fitness due to lazyness or old age hmmmmmm, with about 1/2 hour loss over each of the 6-7 years.
Have to say, with these sprightly v60s, there was no chance of a prize.
Note to self: if you’re going to run a bigish fell race, at least show it respect by doing the distance and ascent a few times beforehand - prize chump.
Needless to say after the race, knowing that it would be churlish not to, I went out on the third day of beer and managed just the six pints, as bed was calling all evening. 
16 Likes
This morning was the 6th race in the Ramadan series, out of 7. Started ominously with the swim being off the beach outside this tower block
Walked out onto a breakwater for a good long stare into the water. Saw medium sized fish, but no sharks, so decided to chance it.
Water was lovely. 800m swim across the man-made lagoon and back. 13m09
Bike was 20km on the usual track, it was nice to do it in daylight for once. There was a stiff headwind again on the way out, phone says 30kmh and I can believe it. I concentrated on getting as low and aero as possible and keeping the Watts high. At the turnaround point I had averaged 32.2kmh at 254W. On the way back the strong tailwind somehow made it difficult to keep the power up. Coming off the ramp to a flyover, was freewheeling at 50kmh 
By the end, average pace had increased to 38.4kmh but average power dropped to 230W. Happy with that though, felt like was getting a few Watts back as the chest infection improves.
TT bike made a huge difference today because of the strong wind, probably 5 minutes looking at the splits of those who only had roadies.
Think I was actually in the lead at this point, but unfortunately, when I stepped off the bike, the pipe organ chest was back. First 2 km felt dreadful, couldn’t breathe properly, ran a sort of smokers shuffle at 5m15 per km stopping every 200m to hawk up some stuff from Mars. Picked up the pace a little after that but it was not a run to be proud of. Don’t yet know final placings because staggered start. Might just have held on for 3rd 
Still, really enjoyed it again & it has been something of a race binge so far this year. I think this was 12th race, and 9th multisport 
the Ramadan race series winds up with a final 5km run on Monday evening. Sadly it looks like the Irish guys have too much of a lead for F.O to catch them though.
24 Likes
Nice bike average !
You really need to give up smoking
Good report and race.
1 Like
Northumberland Du thrown into chaos as Disc wheels are now not permitted (ok the wind speed is now predicted to be 45-47mph, down from 50mph) but the front wheel is the issue not the rear. Some are saying that if CTO is making a call on the wheels now then the race should be binned.
Now planning on swapping out cassettes etc and I bet they will roll over on Sunday if someone complains and turns up with a disc wheel
3 Likes
seems a bit early to make a call on discs imho. OK - warn competitors there might be a ban on the day if wind is that bad but tell them to bring alternative wheels in case the ban goes ahead.